The Boy with the Purple Umbrella
by Kuroshitsujifan10
Summary: Zoeya Proasheck, or rather, Zoey, to anyone that knows her, is cheery, friendly, optimistic, and kind. Rythian, on the other hand, is grumpy, blunt, and cynical. How on earth did these two become each others best friends, and why do they both want the other to be more? Zoethian with hints of Sjim (Sjin/ Kim) and Nilesy/ Lomadia. Teenscast AU. Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER~ I don't own anything. at all. If I owned the Blackrock Chronicles, Zoethian would be far more canon.**

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Zoey skipped through the muddy puddles on the asphalt, splashing the water all over her feet. Luckily there wasn't anyone on her side of the side walk, so she didn't have to worry about anybody else getting splashed. She had an umbrella, a red one with white polka-dots, that she held in one hand, but it wasn't doing her much good since she held it behind her as she skipped along. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of a purple umbrella a short distance in front of her. She ran up ahead a bit farther. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be soon, anyways. She finally caught up to the mysterious umbrella-holder, and it certainly wasn't anyone she had seen before.

He had brown hair with a blonde streak in it, and an odd, black face-mask around the lower half of his face. He was holding his umbrella carefully, so as to not let a drop of water touch him or the small book that was a light purple with a white stripe through the middle that he held in his right hand that he was reading. He looked to be about her age, or maybe a year older. The red-head decided, as most friendly people do, to say hello to this complete stranger. Perhaps it wasn't exactly the smartest idea, but she went with it nonetheless.

"HI!" She shouted across the empty street, to the boy as he slowly walked on the other sidewalk. He didn't look up. Zoey decided to try again, after all, he looked rather lonely.

"Hey! You in the Black scarf! HI!" She shouted again, and this the boy looked down for a moment, just to see if he was wearing his black scarf on this dreary day, which he was, and looked at the girl quizzically.

"Hello." He replied back, not as loudly as Zoey, but loudly enough so that she could hear.

"HI! I'm Zoey! Who are you?!" she shouted again, wanting to continue this conversation a bit further and possibly make a new friend. Rythian, on the other hand, wasn't much good at being friendly. He had the occasional conversation with his friend Nilesy, but that was about it. However, he did have manners, and he decided that the polite thing to do would be to respond.

"I'm-" Zoey couldn't hear anything else, for the loud noise of a single car driving through drowned out his reply. Zoey decided to run over to the other side, simply to avoid any more disturbances like that. Rythian was slightly panicked at first, i mean, some stranger had just walked up to him for no apparent reason, other than learning his name. He also realized that the girl was rather naive for somebody her age, assuming that she was his age. She was lucky that he wasn't somebody like those local ruffians, Sjin and Sips. He had had a few run-in's with them and the past, and hadn't escaped any of them without a few new bruises here and there.

"What did you say?" She asked him again, eagerly awaiting a response. Deciding to be a gentleman for once in his life, he replied again.

"Hello. I'm Rythian. Goodbye." I suppose that could be considered rude to most, but he didn't exactly have good "people skills" as some might say. He turned back to his book, thinking that the conversation was over.

"Weeellll, I'm Zoey, just in case you forgot! What's that book called?" She questioned him, and his irritation grew, and only slightly cracked his current mask of indifference.

"Oh, don't worry, I remembered." He said sarcastically. He walked a little bit faster to attempt to end the conversation once again. This only made the red-head more determined. she sped up to match his pace. He sighed in annoyance.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't know you, and you don't know me, so let's just leave it at that, shall we?" He raised his voice only slightly, and then continued to walk along like before. The girl was slightly hurt by his comment, after all, she was only trying to be nice. She put a smile back on her face and shouted back at the boy.

"Well, you know that my name is Zoey, and I know that your name is Rythian! That's gotta count for something!" He stopped, and put his book in the some brown satchel-like thing, while still holding his umbrella in a careful position, and turned around. He gave another sigh, not one of irritation, but simply one of pure surrender.

"I suppose..." He said, and she walked back up to him with a blinding smile. Oddly enough, he could almost feel the corners of his mouth turning upwards in something that may have resembled a smile. The feeling wasn't all that foreign to him, obviously he had smiled before... Occasionally.

"Oh, and I guess if you want to know more about me, my favorite color is red, I absolutely love mushrooms, I'm a vegetarian, and my best friends name is Teep, and he wears this dinosaur hoodie everywhere and some people say it's weird but I think it's awesome!" she somehow managed to say that without taking another breath. Even Rythian was surprised by it.

"Well, I suppose a few facts about myself wouldn't hurt. My name is Rythian, my favorite color would have to be... purple, I like reading, I'm an omnivore, and my best- well, my friend's name is Nilesy." She laughed, but heard her phone ring. She pulled the red with white polka dotted phone out of the pocket of her black pants and held it up to her ear.

"Dad? Yeah... Yeah... really? Oh...okay. Bye." She put the phone back in her pocket and a slight frown was shown on her face. It didn't suit her very well, thought Rythian. She looked back to Rythian, and said, "Well, um, I have to get home, but I'll see you later sometime!" She began to run off in the opposite direction, splashing in every puddle as she went along. Suddenly Rythian remembered.

"Wait Zoey!" He called out and she stopped to turn around. "The Blackrock Chronicles!" He called out. At first, Zoey was confused. Rythian Explained. "My book! It's called the Blackrock Chronicles!" He had almost forgotten to answer her question from earlier. She smiled once again, and this time, even Rythian couldn't deny that he was grinning too.

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**Well... What do you think? I have been wanting to write something like this since forever, and it's finally done! Well, technically, it's finally begun, since this is not just a one-shot, that's right! There's more where this came from! **

**Alrighty, Reviews, suggestions, comments, constructive criticism, and questions are all allowed and welcome, so If you would like to do one of them, or even all of the above, feel free to do as such! Au revoir!**


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER~ **I DON'T OWN THIS. IF I DID, THIS WOULD BE AN ACTUAL PLOT INSTEAD OF A FANFICTION.**

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Zoey felt bad about leaving Rythian, after all, they had only just become friends! He seemed a bit grumpy, but that was fine! After all, Teep was pretty grumpy too at first, but he was a real softie underneath! She was only slightly worried as to why her dad had called her to ask her to come home, even though his usual rule was that she could go anywhere before 6:00 on the weekends, since she knew her way around this area surprisingly well, and this area was about as safe as it could get.

A nice suburban area with quaint homes and townhouses, and a separate area for shopping with a Starbucks, as well as a grocery store that was situated right between a clothing store and a coffee shop. The high school that Zoey attended was a mile or two away from her home. A

s a side note, Rythian also attended that school. He wasn't actually a year older than Zoey, he was simply tall and mature. Unfortunately, Rythian was not as lucky as Zoey to live in such a sweet part of town. As far as he could remember, he had walked by that neighborhood with envy, wishing he could in one of those houses with a nice little suburban family and a normal life, but that kind of life was only for good people, and he was far from a good person. True, he wasn't part any gangs like those two boys, Sips and Sjin, and he didn't participate in any, let's just say _explicit_ activities, like Sam, or rather, Strippin, as most of his "lady friends" called him. But, to himself, Rythian was a bad person.

But back on the topic of Zoey, who had already reached her doorstep, and was fiddling around with her red bag, trying to find her house key. iving up on the task of searching for the key, after a few minutes of standing on her front porch, looking through a purse that was filled with little bits and bobs of things that she carried around, such as a small stuffed dinosaur that had a bow attached to its hand and a monocle on it's right eye, as it reminded her of Teep!

She knocked on the door repeatedly until a man with pure white hair, though in reality, he was only 57, he jokes that it's color is from having Zoey as an adopted child, but he truly cares for the girl as if she were his true daughter. He opened the door with a smile, and shook his head jokingly at Zoey's current state. Her bright red hair was matted down to her face, and her red shirt with green sleeves clung to her like a second skin, while her baggy grey pants were weighed down by the water, and her brown boots were muddy and wet. She walked into the house, leaving her umbrella outside.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed, smile intact.

"Well, you're very much welcome." said the man, or rather, Barry, as most people called him. He shooed Zoey into their living room, where she sat down on the floor, so as not to make the furniture wet.

"I bet you're wondering why I called you, right?" He said, taking a seat on a large brown chair. Zoey nodded her head vigorously.

"Well, I need you to do something for me, something so important that only you can do." He at he stated, as Zoey gaped in excitement, similar to the look a child would get as they ran down the stairs on Christmas morning.

"I need you to..." He paused, as if for dramatic effect.

"go fetch me some medicine from the pharmacy." he finished, and Zoey's face fell. She was expecting something a bit more important, like going to save someone in trouble, or finding the last ingredient for some magical potion, or something along those lines.

"You could have told me that over the phone, you know." She said,a bit of a pout on her face from being assigned such a boring task.

"Well it's good exercise! Plus, you know that the mushroom spies are everywhere! I just wanted this to be a covert mission." he half-whispered with a big grin. Zoey face lighted too at the mention of mushroom spies. Of course, she knew there were no real mushroom spies, but she remembered them from the stories that he told her when she was a child, tales that all took place in an incredible land, a land of magic and monsters, where mad scientists build huge castles, entire islands were dedicated to owls, and an ongoing dispute about magic and science was fierce and bloody. But of course, it was just a story.

"Fine, I'll just run down to Pharmacy on Honeydew street and-" She was cut off.

"Oh, no no, not that pharmacy! The medicine I need is at the pharmacy all the way down on Xephos road, so you have to go there instead!" He stated, looking at Zoey as if to gauge her reaction.

"Really?!" She said excitedly, after all, Xephos street was close to the worse part of town, where there were gangs and that kind of stuff. Maybe this was going to be an exciting task!

"Yes, and," he looked out the nearby window, " It even seems to have stopped raining! What a perfect time for adventure! Although maybe you should change first." he said, refering to her currently sopping wet clothing. She ran to her room, kicking off her boots as she went, and practically threw off her wet clothing to change into a grey shirt with black capris, as well as her red sneakers. she ran back out and into the living room, only to hear her father say, "Oh, and do take care, it's not as safe as it is here over there." he warned, though he knew the girl could handle herself, she might not look like it, but she could certainly take care of herself in danger.

"I will! Thank you so much!" She said rushing out into the sunlight, though a bit of moisture still clung to the afternoon air. She ran off, with Barry waving from the doorway. She ran and ran, with a smile stretching from ear to ear. She had never really been to that part of town before! What a fun adventure!

~Rythian's Perspective~

As I walked home, I thought about that odd girl, Zoey, as she said, and about whether or not I could trust her. Another question, though it was shoved way back into the shadowy crevices of my brain, was whether or not I'd see her again. What a ridiculous question! I had my own problems to worry about, and I didn't need a bunch of new ones heaped on as well.

Still... She was so optimistic and cheerful, happiness practically radiated out of her, and even I couldn't resist a smile at her ridiculous antics. Oh, what am I thinking about! I just met her ten minutes ago! I barely know her! I shouldn't really dwell on this subject, maybe a few more chapters of my book will help me think about things a little better. It was odd really, about how this book had just appeared on my doorstep earlier today, without anyone around. I hadn't gotten far, I was only a chapter or two in, and the main character had just found a lake to recuperate from a recent monster attack...

"_The boy sat at the water's edge, not daring to go any closer, for the substance was almost acid-like to one like him. He sat next to his trusty companion, Ghost, a pale white wolf, who sat next to his master loyally, when suddenly-_

_'Ahh! Okay! Okay! Okay!' cried a feminine voice from above. The boy looked up as a mysterious girl with firey hair fell from the sky, and landed in the water. Looking back, I could suppose that she literally landed right in the middle of the boys life, and like the lake she landed in, had created ripples all throughout. She came back up spluttering and coughing, but with a smile nonetheless. _

_'Hello! I'm -" _

Rythian stopped reading. He had bumped into something, or rather, someone. He was about to simply apologize and walk away, before noticing the figure odd grey skin and black hair. there was no doubt about it. This was Sips, a gang leader in this area. Rythian was unarmed, but Sips surely had a pocketknife or two in his blue lumberjack jacket.

"Watch where you're goin' you piece of- Oh, look who's back for another beating?" He said with an evil grin as he realized who he had encountered on his way back from his most recent drug trade. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation, and walked closer to Rythian, who dropped him umbrella, even though the rain had stopped, and did the only logical thing to do in this situation. He landed a good right hook on the grey bastard and ran like hell.

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**Chapter two done! That was probably the quickest I've ever written a chapter before! I know, I know, I'm pretty great right?**

**Alrighty, reviews, suggestions, ideas, constructive criticism, and questions are very much appreciated, and even if it's just a comment, like, "I like this. this is cool." It makes my day, and I really appreciate it! Au revoir!**


	3. Chapter 3

**MyDimension~ Thank you very much! I wasn't planning on adding it, but then this rainbow fish flew through my window and said that the idea was necessary for the survival of the human race, so I couldn't really refuse, could I?**

**CheckersAndDominos~ Well, I've just finished writing chapter 3, it's a few lines lower, just in case you were wondering. I am enjoying writing this, it's incredibly fun! Buuut I still have to take care of school and stuff, so new chapters are a bit slow to come out, thank you for your offer, though!**

**AshleyCelestine~ Thank you! I think Sips and Rythian are a pretty good team too, but for the purpose of the story, they kinda had to be at odds. I appreciate you review, though!**

**Disclaimer: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED ANYTHING, ZOETHIAN WOULD BE CANON ALREADY.**

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~3rd Person Perspective~

If you were to ask Rythian to describe himself, he would say many things, one of them, however, would not be a coward. Rythian prided himself on his physical strength that meant he never really had to run away from most fights. However, when one was faced with the options of either having a fist-fight with a drugged-up teenager and his sneaky, yet surprisingly strong, cohort, or running in the opposite direction, only a fool would choose the former. Rythian knew the area well, and kept turning corners in an attempt to lose his pursuers, who thundered through the streets like elephants in a tea shop, or however that saying goes. Running carefully, so as not to trip over the occasional homeless person that lay on the dirty streets.

From the sheer amount of times he had to run through these streets to avoid expensive hospital bills, he had mentally mapped out the paths that people took around this time. For instance, that guy with the mustache and way too many tattoos always walked across Tekkit Avenue around this time, so he had to take the turn onto Xephos road to avoid running into him and inevitably getting caught by Sips and Sjin. He turned the corner, flipping a trashcan over behind him to slow Sips and Sjin down. He passed the Jaffa Cafe (pronounced _caff_, in case you didn't know,) then the pharmacy, then a small park that few visited. He looked behind him, just to see if the two teens were still pursuing him, shouting out foul words as they ran. They were. He ran for a good 2-3 more steps before coming into contact with something, or rather, someone.

"Hey!" He heard a feminine voice shout as he fell. He scrambled to get up, not even thinking to look at his obstacles face. Rythian turned around once more, to see if he could still manage to make it home and lock the doors without being caught by them. There wasn't. He untangled himself from the unknown figure, who actually wasn't that unknown at all. Before he could even run, a grey fist met with his face, knocking him back a few feet. This had become an all out fight, and onlookers had already gathered around them, and money rustled through fingertips as people made bets on who would lose consciousness first. A woman pulled the figure out of the "arena" of sorts, even though she vehemently tried to stop her.

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~Zoey's Perspective~

I was running down Xephos street, and I had the target in my sights! The words "Lombucket Pharmacy" in big blue letters were clearly visible, and I was so close! I could see the blond secretary or whatever you called those people who stood behind that desk in the front. She looked young, almost my age. Maybe she was an intern or something. She had an owl hat on. Aw! owls are so cute! They've got such adorable little faces and their little wings and- Woah!

"Hey!" I shouted as I suddenly got knocked over by somebody who was running really fast apparently. Ouch! their should be some kind of speed limit on side walks, kinda like the ones on roads but for side walks instead, cause that hurt! I could feel whoever was on top of me scrambling to get up. Not even trying to apologize, how rude! I felt a scarf against my face. I took a closer look at this person's face. Wait a minute... wasn't this... oh my gosh! This was the Rythian guy from earlier! He didn't even look at my face, cause he kept his eyes focused on whatever was behind him. I tried to say something, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I just got a mouthful of scarf. His scarf tastes like dirt. As soon as he stood up, he got punched in the face! I turned to look at the two guys behind me, one big guy, with oddly grey skin and a really bad haircut, and another guy who looked a lot like a rat, with a really funny-looking mustache. I started to stand up to try and help Rythian, cause it just seemed right, you know? But this lady dragged me into the big crowd that had formed around them. Oh no! They were fighting! I hated fighting!

"please don't fight!" I tried to shout. "I'm sure that a simple hug could solve this problem a lot better!" It was no use. I could barely hear my own words in the loud crowd. the big grey guy punched Rythian again while he was still staggering, making him lose his balance again, and fell down, where the scrawny guy started to kick him in the ribs. Rythian began to cough violently. I had to help! I had to- Oh gosh, I could barely keep my eyes on them with this crowd elbowing me all the time! Rythian grabbed the scrawny guys leg and pulled it out from under the guy, making him big grey guy got even more upset. He grabbed Rythian's scarf and yanked him upwards, almost choking Rythian. Rythian held onto the grey guy's arm to try and keep himself from choking to death, until he passed out! the grey guy dropped him onto the ground and blood started to pool around him.

Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Why didn't anybody try to stop this? An oddly petite Asian girl ran from the crowd and picked up the scrawny guy, who had one arm slung around her shoulder, and walked away, behind the grey guy as he laughed about his victory. The crowd dispersed. I can't believe that just happened! How could anyone want to hurt somebody else so violently? Those guys were a bunch of... a bunch of MEANIES! Nobody paid any attention to the teen as he bled out on the side walk. I ran towards him and tried to drag him towards the pharmacy, cause they've got something to do with doctors, right? He was heavy! I loosed the scarf around his neck, and I caught a glimpse of jagged scars around the lower half of his face, but I ignored them because he was DYING and NOBODY was trying to do anything! they walked by, as if he didn't exist! I grabbed both of his arms and dragged him into the pharmacy as fast as I could. the blonde lady behind the counter who was previously occupied with a conversation with a black-haired teenager with thick, square glasses. She gasped as soon as she saw me dragging Rythian. The black-haired teen turned and gasped.

"Rythian..!" He half mumbled half shouted.

"help me, please!" I said to the both of them. the blonde girl looked frozen for a few seconds before saying,

"N-N-Nilesy, get a roll of g-gauze!" she stuttered. The black-haired boy, Nilesy, apparently, looked confused for a moment.

"But I don't even know-"

"Then find some!" The girl replied, obviously panicked. Nilesy walked off to try and find some gauze. The girl ran towards Rythian, grabbing a box of tissues on her way.

"I-I don't really know what to do! I'm just an intern!" She exclaimed worriedly. She had to do something! I had only just met Rythian today, but he seemed really nice, and even if he was a jerk I wouldn't just abandon him! I couldn't think of anything else to do, since that Nilesy guy hadn't returned with any gauze yet, so I took of my grey shirt, but I had an undershirt on, so it wasn't that bad. I held the grey shirt up to his forehead, where the biggest gash was. It spanned about half the length of his forehead and was about half an inch wide, and it was bleeding heavily. I remember hearing about something in health where you're supposed to apply pressure to a wound to make it better. I held the shirt to his forehead and it quickly stained crimson.

"This is what you're supposed to do, right?" I asked worriedly, not sure of I was doing it right.

"How would I know? The most medical experience I have is veterinary work on owls!" She shouted agitatedly. But Rythian's not an owl! (probably)

Suddenly, Nilesy reappeared with something white in a slightly unraveled roll.

"This is gauze, right?" He said shakily. The blonde girl nodded and he sat down next to me and wrapped gauze his forehead, after I had removed my, now red and dripping with blood, shirt. The blonde girl and I walked to a pair of chairs a foot or two away, just to give Nilesy some space for concentration.

"I'm Lomadia, but most people just call me Hannah." said the blonde girl. That was an odd difference between her actual name and her nickname. I gave her a bit of an odd look, not intentionally, it was just my "thinking face" of sorts. " Well, after something like that, I guess the proper thing to do would be an introduction. Unless that's a bit weird."

"Not at all! I'm Zoey by the way!" I said. she nodded silently. awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds.

"Sooo, do you, um, know him?" She gesture to Rythian, who was now, albeit sloppily, bandaged up. Rythian was propped up on a chair, still unconscious. Nilesy walked over to us and sat next to Hannah.

"Well, I met him today, but he seemed nice and he smiled once, and then-"

"Woah, woah, woah, you got him to smile?" He pointed to Rythian with disbelief. was it really that big of a deal? It wasn't that hard to smile. All you had to do was get your mouth into this kind of crescent shape, but an upwards one, the other way is a frown! "Yeah! Rythian's-" I heard a groan in front of me. i think he was waking up!

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~Rythian's Perspective~

My eyes opened slowly. I could see the stark white walls of an unfamiliar room, painfully contrasting with the blackness of unconsciousness. I squinted from the harsh brightness around me, blinking frequently in an attempt to stop slight stinging sensation in my eyes. I could see chairs, a counter, and rows and rows of medicine. Could I be in a hospital? No, I couldn't be! I can't afford this! I tried to move my arms, but they ached like I had just been hit by a bus. What had happened before I passed out? I remember running... I remember... ugh, I remember those bastards Sips and Sjin chasing me, and also running into someone. Damn! If only that jerk would've gotten out of my way! A blurry figure came into my field of vision, fire-hydrant red hair standing out against the bleak white walls. My sight became less and less blurry, and I realized that this was the girl from earlier, from the sidewalk after school. Why was she here? She certainly didn't look, nor act like somebody from around here. She leaned over me, her face dangerously close, and I could feel her warm breath on my nose.

"Rythian? Rythian are you okay? Are you alive?" She questioned.

"If he wasn't alive, how would he answer?!" queried a familiar Scottish voice. Was that Nilesy? I turned my ever-aching head to the right, where a clear door was visible. Where the heck was I? I couldn't be in a hospital, unless somebody had practically mummified me in the waiting room. I could feel some kind of bandage around my arms, waist, and on my forehead. I attempted to pull myself onto my knees, then get myself to stand upright, but as soon as I tried, a pair of hands held my shoulders and somebody told me to relax. How could I relax?! I didn't even know where I was, and the sun was setting outside, so I had to get home quickly, since traveling after dark is a dangerous pastime. I heard multiple voice behind me as I turned towards the door.

I brushed the hands off, trying to get away. I mumbled a thanks and attempted to stumble out of the clear doorway. Maybe there was a street sign nearby that I could check. I could taste the coppery tang of blood in my mouth and feel fabric against open wounds which stung like hell. I felt another hand on my shoulder again, and the two other hands, which belonged to some blonde girl who looked familiar, yet I couldn't quite place her name. I turned, though I could already tell it was her... Zoey, I think, because of how smooth her palms were. She had the hands of someone whose never had to do any tough jobs, or get in any fist-fights either, and I knew that she definitely wasn't from around here.

"Rythian, sit down... You're going to hurt yourself! Just sit on a chair or something! The seats are actually quite comfy!" exclaimed Zoey. My vision became blurrier and blurrier, until all that was left complete and utter darkness.

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~Zoey's Perspective~

I leaned forward to catch Rythian, you know, so he didn't fall forward hit the floor with his face, cause then his face would... I don't know, explode or something, and that would suck! As soon as I got a good grip on his shoulders I tried to pull him back up, but _somebody_ needs to cut down on the sweets, cause he's as heavy as... something that's really heavy! A rock! I heard Hannah and Nilesy behind me as they tried to grab onto me to keep me from falling as well, but Rythian sank like a rock in a lake. I did this really weird ninja-roll- thingy to try not to squash Rythian, but I ended up landing on my face on the tiled flooring.

"Ooowww..." I muttered in pain. Why didn't pharmacy have soft and cushy floors? They could just have a bunch of teddy bears on the floors, and that would be so much better! I held my hands up to my nose, cause it felt like I just got a door slammed into my face, and I felt something on my hands, something... warm and gooey. Oh my gosh! It was blood! I know I've been cleaning up Rythian's blood, but it's different when it's coming out of your own nose! And to think, I was only supposed to come here to get dad some medicine.

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~3rd Person Perspective~

In only a few seconds, The only unscathed persons in that pharmacy dissolved into panic, rushing around with rolls of gauze and tubes of Neosporin, after all, Hannah was only an intern, and her only past experience was with owls, which wasn't _quite_ the same as dealing with actual people, and Nilesy was just a bored teen on a Friday, coming to visit one of his friends. At the end of the day, Zoey's face was partially mummified, with tufts of red hair poking out from under the bandages, not to mention that she had become so exhausted that the poor thing had fallen asleep. Rythian was still passed out, also partially mummified, face down on the tile. At least his nose wasn't bleeding like Zoey's. Hannah and Nilesy were both slouched in chairs, silently cursing life, with bloodied hands and clothes as well as a few strips of gauze here and there.

If one passed by the Lombucket Pharmacy on that day, they would have been very confused as to why what looked like the aftermath of a drunken Halloween party was located there, then continued on their merry way. Fortunately for him, Rythian still had his book in his back pocket, after all, it was very important, you know? He groaned once more, but without waking up, and Nilesy threw a roll of gauze at him, attempting to shut him up. However, and you might find this little tidbit to be important, on the other side of town, one Barry Proasheck got into his car, expecting the worst, and headed downtown.

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**Ahh! Holy crap, this chapter is LONG! I just could find a place to end it, so it just kept on going! Sorry for the HUGE delay on this chapter, schoolwork and social lives, blah blah blah. HOWEVER, I would like you to know that the next chapter won't be a legit chapter, it'll be more like... a characterization of the people we've met so far, and other important stuffs. But I'll try to get the next legit chapter out quicker than this one, cause it's getting cold and that means MORE TIME INSIDE! Whoo!**

**Alrighty, reviews, suggestions, ideas, constructive criticism, questions, or all of the above are very much welcome here. Even a simple, "I think this is cool." Makes my day and puts a smile upon my face. I love you guys! Au revoir!**


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